Abroad Tel

CrazyChemist_2

I've used the callchecker to find a cheap call provider which allows international calls via an 0844 number.

However, the second call quality was poor but is it possible to get a refund on these calls, seeing as they are actually charged by my telephone company?

pricefighter

NO!!! But if you go to the https://www.abroadtel.co.uk site visit the FAQ page you will see at the bottom you can report poor line quality to them.

CrazyChemist_2

Not very fair then is it? If a product doesn't live up to the description then I am entitled to a refund (from Martin's article!). All they do is make the line quality so rubbish that people end up repeating what was said and end up spending longer on the phone.

Now I know how they are able to offer such cheap rates. Back to account based telecoms for me. This 0844 rubbish is a massive con.

Still think I should get a refund for it, albeit on principle.

bbb_uk

CrazyChemist wrote:

Not very fair then is it? If a product doesn't live up to the description then I am entitled to a refund (from Martin's article!)....

That is true except where does it say on their site that they offer 100% call quality? If you wanted the best call quality then use BT but even they can't guarantee call quality for calls routed outside their control.

The problem is unless you are calling another UK landline then quality can't really be guaranteed. If you are calling a mobile or an international number then AbroadTel/BT (or any other company for that matter) can't guarantee call quality that is to a certain degree outside their control because calling mobiles then call quality can be affected by where they are, interference, etc and calling an international number you use other networks (outside the UK) lines to route the calls.

blinker

I often experience poor quality when i used cheapo companiers BUT i've stuck with https://www.simply-fone.com fr their 0844/0871 int calls thingie which seems to be little dearer but excellent quality everytime.

They tolsd me once on a email response that they use BT on many routes.

andy88_2

CC, I can't see how you expect a refund from BT or other main provider for calls made via a competitor, when they correctly routed their part of the call.

CrazyChemist_2

andy88 wrote:

CC, I can't see how you expect a refund from BT or other main provider for calls made via a competitor, when they correctly routed their part of the call.

Sorry, maybe I didn't make it clear - I expect a refund from AbroadTel who own the 0844 number. They didn't route their part of the call correctly

Asking for a refund from BT would be a bit silly :rolleyes:

bbb_uk wrote:

That is true except where does it say on their site that they offer 100% call quality?

See here on AbroadTel's site for their fault report form - it has a tick box to report "Bad quality connection (interference during the call)". This implies that the call should be of a good quality and interference free... something that my call was not. Therefore, I feel I am entitled to a refund from AbroadTel. If they do not respond to my email in a resonable time I will take this to OFCOM on principle. (even though OFCOM is completely ineffective with stopping the NGN scam!)

Edinburghlass_2

CrazyChemist wrote:

Sorry, maybe I didn't make it clear - I expect a refund from AbroadTel who own the 0844 number. They didn't route their part of the call correctly

Asking for a refund from BT would be a bit silly :rolleyes:

But you are paying BT for the call, so you would be asking for a refund from AbroadTel on behalf of BT? Compensation perhaps but you can't get a refund on money that you haven't paid them.

andy88_2

Can you prove to Ofcom or in Court that you correctly dialled the call? I spoke the other evening to a woman I assumed to be in Norway, and had misdialled (screen on my mobile).

Assuming you did not waste time on this poor call, you are claiming 5p compensation.

bbb_uk

andy88 wrote:

...Assuming you did not waste time on this poor call, you are claiming 5p compensation.

....and if you had a full chat with this person despite the call quality was crap could be deemed as you accepting the quality of the call because you continued to use it. It would normally only take less than a minute to determine if the call quality was crap and you would hang up.

You have surely noticed that t&c state these days that continued use of their service (what ever that may be) constitutes you have accepted the t&c. The same thing could apply here and continued use could be seen as you accepted the call quality. If it was that bad, most people would have hung up and tried again.

You still have a problem if the call was routed via another country or to a mobile where good quality can not be guaranteed and the court/OfCOM could see as it is outside their (AbroadTel/BT, etc) reasonable control. AbroadTel/BT, etc can only do their best to ensure the quality is good but once the call leaves their own network and on to someone's network then to a certain degree they can't be held liable especially if they do normal things to ensure the call quality is as good as possible. That could be service agreements, with other third parties.

Remember, all AbroadTel/BT or anyone else has to do, is prove to OfCOM that they did everything in their reasonable control to ensure the call was good quality but as the chances are the call was carried via other networks it can not be guaranteed but so long as they can prove they did/do everything in their power to ensure good quality then they'll get away with it.

CrazyChemist_2

Yup, you're right there - I got an email from them saying it was another network which let us down. Of course it wasn't their network.

I don't have faith in this particular network anymore. Does anyone actually check the credentials of the companies in MSE Callchecker list?

In the meantime, I'm going back to old-faithful 18866 :cool: